Swans
by luckcharm
Summary: Elegant, radiant, refined, perfect. Swans. Clumsy, ignorant, immature, flawed. Weiss Schnee.
1. Chapter 1

_Elegant. Radiant. Refined. Perfect. Swans._

_Clumsy. Ignorant. Immature. Flawed. Weiss Schnee._

* * *

Her parents had been nothing but unsupportive.

They forced her wear long dresses to be elegant when she wanted nothing but to play with the other children. They forced her to attend singing classes so she could "shine" on stage and have a large presence when Weiss wanted nothing but to stay hidden. They forced her to take up responsibility and patch up her own problems when she wanted nothing but a shoulder to cry on. They forced her to be perfect.

A perfect daughter to become the perfect heiress to their company.

* * *

"Weiss, go make yourself useful and feed the swans." The cold voice of her father never seemed to change. "At least you can manage that."

By now, this sort of treatment normal for her. After ten years living with such distant parenting, usually just talking face to face was a good sign. But Weiss would be lying if she said she enjoyed her parent's presence.

"Of course," she willed her voice not to crack as she looked at the familiar sight of her father's back. "Should I use the spoiled bread or perhaps the leftovers from breakfast?" Weiss did her best to keep up with his brisk pace but it was difficult with the small steps she took.

The man didn't reply for a moment. "Does it really matter? Just go do something instead of following me around." His tone grew even harsher than before. "I have better things to do than to babysit you."

That shouldn't have hurt as much as it did. Weiss stopped in her tracks, looked down and simply turned around. For a moment, she looked at her feet before quickly raising her chin back to a proud posture despite feeling quite the opposite.

* * *

Within the large garden of their home, or rather, mansion, Weiss sat on her usual smooth stone. Her hand outstretched and sprinkled some bread crumbs over the surface of the water. Once the food had caught the swans' attention, they all slowly swam towards her.

Weiss couldn't help but smile at their calm and gentle aura. They were always so graceful in everything they did. Even the way they plucked and cleaned their feathers was a joy to watch. Yet at the same time, Weiss felt a bit envious of them. She knew for a fact that she could never obtain the qualities that swans possessed. If she ever would, it would be by abandoning her nature and forcing herself to change.

But… if it could finally earn her parent's approval. Weiss was more than willing to do so.

She continued to stay lost in her thoughts as she absentmindedly tossed some bread to the white birds. Weiss watched the way they moved their necks and beaks to retrieve the crumbs.

Until she noticed another swan right at the back of the pond.

It didn't seem to move that much, instead if just drifted on it's own without an attempt to wedge between the others for a chance at food. On closer inspection, Weiss could make out that it was slightly smaller and thinner than the others, most likely the runt.

Without even processing the thought fully in her mind, Weiss stood up and threw a large handful of breadcrumbs at the runt. The small swan looked a bit startled when some of them hit her head, shaking its head in confusion before it noticed the food. When it did, it took the chance to gulp down as many as it could.

Slowly, the faint smile on Weiss' face grew wider and wider until it was a large grin. Watching the smaller swan somehow made her feel a lot better.

"If I were a swan, I would be you," she softly whispered under her breath. "Hopefully we'll grow up big and strong like our parents."


	2. Chapter 2

That nice lady that would by bread for Weiss so she could feed the swans had been gone for the whole day. That was odd. Especially since on Mondays, she would be the first to turn up since "starting early is refreshing, even on a Monday."

Weiss spent the whole evening just loitering around the lobby to see if the lady would come in. Perhaps she was sick? Or did she just disappear?

People from the Schnee Dust Company often vanished. The adults had often tried to cover up what death was to Weiss, but her parents were blunt about it. Weiss knew exactly what happened when familiar faces are never to be seen again, and every time it would hurt her to the core.

She would often hang around employees when she wasn't studying and despite the fact they were adults, she enjoyed their company. It wasn't like she was allowed to talk with the other kids anyway.

Some family friends, ward members and employees were better role models than her parents themselves thought she would never admit it. To the eleven year old Weiss, her parents were flawless and one day, she would have to become like them and shoulder the same problems they faced. So in order to do so, Weiss would follow their commands in hopes she would one day be as great as they were in her eyes.

But… would it be strange for her to say that she didn't love them?

It was tiring to learn advanced theories of Dust when she just learned how to spell words like orchestra and hospital. Not to mention she still had a personal trainer to make sure she was as fit as can be and learn fighting techniques to for self defense. To top it off, her parents had recently hired a music teacher to enhance her singing ability as it will give her a larger presence on and off stage. Plus, it would be important for her to stand in front of a large crowd if she was going to take up the Schnee Dust Company.

To be fair, singing was fun at the start, she even slacked off her Dust lessons but after the pressure began to grow, something she loved to do quickly became a chore and nothing more but another activity Weiss was forced to take up.

"Weiss!" The familiar cold booming voice was followed by brisk walking towards her.

Weiss spun around from her cross legged sitting position on her floor and looked up to her father's stern eyes.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" He narrowed his piercing pale blue eyes at her. "This is the lobby. The FRONT of the Schnee Dust Company's office and I will not have my daughter, or any child just sitting her and ruining this professional atmosphere." The man straightened out his suit and looked around to confirm if he had made a scene. Luckily for him, there was no one else in the lobby apart from the security cameras. "Now get off the floor and go out to the back if you _must _say here."

Although Weiss was flustered, she quickly stood up and looked her father in his eyes. She opened her mouth to protest and ask about the nice lady at the counter but something held her back.

"Just what are you looking at me all wide eyed for." He took a deep breath. "Get out of my sight."

"Yes. Of course, father," she murmured softly under her breath.

With that, she scampered off to the back garden of the main building. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't fast enough and caught the hurtful curses her father muttered.

* * *

By the time she had found her way to the garden, it was already late afternoon and the sun was already beginning to set, bathing the landscape in a warm orange glow. The sky was slowly darkening and the clouds had just the smallest touch of pink to them. A small breeze gently touched the tops of the trees and from the angle Weiss was looking at, the grass seemed to blow in waves from the wind.

Weiss breathed a sigh, a sigh that should belong to an adult instead of an eleven year old as the heartache began to settle in. Another employee had vanished thanks to the White Fang. The Faunus were the scum of all scum for committing these horrid crimes. Did they not stop to think brothers, sisters, parents, daughters and sons would be affected by their deeds? Weiss doubts it.

In fact, Weiss almost doesn't see any wrong in their family employing hundreds of Faunus to do the labour. They deserved it. When she was young, Weiss naturally found it cruel. But once she was slowly exposed to The White Fang, she didn't even seem to mind the "controversial labour."

But it wasn't just the White Fang that had it out for the Schnee Dust Company and their family. It was everyone in the Dust Industry. Her grandfather had been targeted numerous times before he kicked the bucket himself. It was likely that people were after Weiss herself as well.

Sometimes, all this was just too much for the young heiress. The pressure to do well. The pressure to succeed and make her parents proud. The pressure to be _perfect. _Not to mention she can't even speak her thoughts and spill the worries in her heart because there's no one she truly trusts.

"Can't someone just..." Weiss sobbed, she buried her head in her arms and willed herself not to cry. "Just help me...?" Her blue eyes were glazed as she stared off into the distance. The girl didn't even know what she was asking for. But she did know all she wanted was a pair of arms to hold her, anyone would do. Anyone who would be willing to take time out of their day just to cheer her up.

The young girl had another sudden longing be sitting down next to the pond in their home. At least the swans would be there to make her feel safe and comfortable.

Yet at the same time, she knew that more than anything, Weiss wanted someone to talk to, speak her troubles and worries instead of bottling them up deep inside.

Someone who would always be there for her no matter what.

Someone to be her friend.


End file.
